AOAC INTERNATIONAL Privacy Policy

AOAC INTERNATIONAL is committed to honoring the privacy of our members and those who visit our website and procure our products and services. This privacy policy is meant to help you understand how we collect, use and protect your information and your privacy rights. This website, also known as AOAC Online, as well as all products and services on AOAC Online are made available subject to this Privacy Policy. By using the products and services, you agree, without limitation or qualification, to be bound by this Privacy Policy. AOAC INTERNATIONAL will update this policy from time to time, so please check back periodically. When such changes occur, you will see the word “updated” next to the Privacy Policy link on the home page. If at any point we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we would prominently post such changes before we implement them.

What information does AOAC INTERNATIONAL collect?

Our goal is to become your destination for “confidence in analytical results” by providing information, services and product offerings that are most relevant to you in the most convenient way. To achieve this goal, AOAC INTERNATIONAL may collect, use, store and transfer following information about you: your name, contact information (such as your email address, fax number, physical address, etc.), unique identifiers (usually your AOAC INTERNATIONAL member number/ID), purchasing or payment information, gender, date of birth, educational information, subscription preference, information collected about your use of AOAC INTERNATIONAL’s services and products, as well as any additional information you may provide to us. We do not knowingly collect information about children, and we do not ask or collect special categories of personal data (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, political opinions, trade union membership, your health, sex life, sexual orientation or genetic/biometric data). We also do not collect any information about criminal convictions or offenses.

Personally identifiable information refers to data that tells us specifically who you are (e.g., your name and postal address). You are only required to provide such information if you want to take advantage of optional products and services provided through our website.

Anonymous information refers to data that cannot be tied back to a specific individual. AOAC INTERNATIONAL collects some information each time a visitor comes to AOAC Online, so we can improve the overall quality of the visitor’s experience. For example, AOAC INTERNATIONAL collects the visitor’s browser and platform type (e.g., a Netscape browser on a Windows platform). Gathering this data helps us to learn what browsers we need to support. Other anonymous information helps us determine what sections of AOAC Online are most popular and how many visitors come to our site. You do not need to register with AOAC Online before we can collect this anonymous information.

AOAC INTERNATIONAL may ask you to provide personal information as needed for you to take advantage of products and services we provide. Through AOAC Online, we collect personal information in the following ways from different parts of its website:

AOAC INTERNATIONAL MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS: You are sharing personally identifiable information, including your name and mailing address, with us when you join AOAC INTERNATIONAL or renew your AOAC INTERNATIONAL membership through our website. AOAC INTERNATIONAL members are given a membership number, and a login and password which enables members to take advantage of restricted content and features on AOAC Online.

OTHER REGISTRATION: You will be asked for personal information when registering for specific services such as our Annual Meeting or our educational offerings, for example.You will be asked for personal information when registering for specific services such as our Annual Meeting or our educational offerings, for example.

ONLINE PURCHASES: We also ask for personal information when you are making a purchase from our product and services offerings. The number and variety of useful services on AOAC Online that will require collection of personally identifiable information will continue to grow in the future.

What is the Legal Basis for Using Your Information?

AOAC INTERNATIONAL will only use your personal information when the law allows us to. We may use your personal information in order to perform the contract we entered into with you. If you failed to provide personal data required to perform the contract, we may not be able to perform the contract and we may have to cancel a product or service you have with us. We will notify you if this is the case at the time.

AOAC INTERNATIONAL may use your personal data based on your consent. By providing AOAC INTERNATIONAL your personal information, you are actively agreeing to interact with us, through AOAC INTERNATIONAL membership and/or other events and services, and giving us consent to use your personal information. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us. Please remember that withdrawing your consent does not remove the legal basis to use your information to perform the contract where applicable.

AOAC INTERNATIONAL will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collect it unless we reasonably believe that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. We will notify you prior to any additional processing.

European Union Privacy Rights

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), if you are an individual protected by the GDPR, you have the following rights:

Access: you may receive information about our processing of your personal data and a copy of your personal data.

Correct: you may request us to update or correct inaccurate data we have about you. You can also do this by accessing your information as described above.

Delete: you may ask us to delete your personal information.

Opt-out: you may change your subscription setting at any time and stop receiving any direct marketing communications as described above.

Transfer: you may ask us to transfer your personal data in a machine-readable format to a third party of your choice.

Restrict: you may ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information under certain circumstances.

Object: you may object to our reliance on our legitimate interest as the basis of our processing if you believe it impacts your fundamental rights and freedoms.

Complain: you have a right to submit a complaint to the supervisory authority in the Member State in which you are located. The list of Data Protection authorities and their contact information are available on the European Commission’s website.

AOAC INTERNATIONAL is headquartered in the United States and your personal information may be transferred to the United States or other locations where privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction. For the European Union users, the European Commission has approved the use of model contract clauses as a means of ensuring adequate protection when transferring data outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”). By incorporating model contract clauses into a contract between SOT and the third-party processors that AOAC INTERNATIONAL engages, your information can be protected when transferred outside of the EEA to countries which have not been deemed by the European Commission to adequately protect personal data, including the United States.

How can AOAC members modify their personal information?

AOAC INTERNATIONAL members and customers have the following options for changing and modifying information previously provided.

What is AOAC INTERNATIONAL's opt-out policy?

AOAC INTERNATIONAL provides its members and customers the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from our partners and us. If you no longer wish to receive specific communications or services, you have the following options:

How does AOAC INTERNATIONAL use “cookies?”

AOAC International may use cookies to enhance AOAC Online user experience. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. However, please note that if you disable or refuse cookies, some parts of our website may become inaccessible or not function properly.

How does AOAC INTERNATIONAL use the information it collects?

AOAC INTERNATIONAL uses the information it collects to provide you with services and products you request, to make the organization better and to improve our website and your experience.

If you are a member or customer of AOAC INTERNATIONAL, we use the personally identifiable information you provide in the membership application to send you AOAC INTERNATIONAL publications, information about member benefits and special offers, and other information that AOAC INTERNATIONAL believes is relevant and useful to its members. You can customize your preferences for receiving such information by following the steps described below in the AOAC INTERNATIONAL Opt-Out Policy.
Anonymous data that is collected is used exclusively by AOAC INTERNATIONAL to measure user interests in various parts of AOAC Online. Without this data we would not be able to change and update the content and services appropriate.

AOAC INTERNATIONAL may be required by law enforcement or judicial authorities to provide information on individual users to the appropriate governmental authorities. In matters involving a danger to personal or public safety, AOAC INTERNATIONAL may voluntarily provide information to appropriate governmental authorities.

Does AOAC INTERNATIONAL disclose the information to third parties?

AOAC INTERNATIONAL provides information it collects to our affiliates and other trusted vendors to process and store it for us based on our instructions. These vendors have appropriate confidentiality and security measures to ensure that your information is protected. AOAC INTERNATIONAL may also share your information with organizations that we believe might have a product or service of interest to you. You can always customize your preferences by following the steps described below in the AOAC INTERNATIONAL Opt-Out Policy.

Please be aware that AOAC’s sponsors, advertisers and third-party content providers have links on our website that take you to other websites. Please note that links to other websites are provided throughout AOAC Online for user’s information and convenience. Once on a third-party website, its privacy policy will govern the personal information it may collect about you.

What types of security procedures are in place to protect against loss, misuse or alteration of your information?

AOAC INTERNATIONAL has security measures, such as firewalls and encryption, in place to protect against loss, misuse or alteration of your user data under our control. While we cannot guarantee that loss, misuse or alteration to data will not occur, we take reasonable precautions to prevent such unfortunate occurrences. We will notify you of any breaches as required by law. We also have a training program for our staff to increase the awareness relating to confidentiality, data security and GDPR compliance.

You are ultimately responsible for the security of your AOAC login and password. You may not share your AOAC login and password with colleagues or friends so they can access content or features on AOAC Online that are restricted to AOAC members only. You should log out of your browser at the end of each computer session to ensure that others cannot access your personal information and correspondence, especially if you share a computer or are using a computer in a public place like a library or Internet café.

How does AOAC Online use discussion forums?

This site makes discussion forums available to its members. Any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information, and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information. Although users may post messages that will appear on the forums anonymously, AOAC does retain a record of who posts all notes.

How long does AOAC INTERNATIONAL store your information?

Per our record retention policy, AOAC INTERNATIONAL maintains this information for as long as a member or other customer/partner is actively engaged with us, and for seven years after their last interaction.